2019/05/20 by Emma González-Lesser · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies #Race, Genetics, and Society #Rhetoric and Communication Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/1070289x.2019.1617529
openalex publication_date 2019/05/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
The specific ethno-racial position of Jewishness offers an ideal case study for contemporary U.S. racialisation processes. Despite a proclaimed end to biologisation in a supposed ‘post-racial’ era, essentialist reasoning remains central to U.S. race-making. Employing a content analysis of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times (2000–2010), I find that biologically rooted constructions of Jewishness occur through appeals to (1) physical definitions based on DNA or phenotype, and (2) subtle biologisation vis-à-vis ancestral claims. Demonstrating both explicit and subtle biologisation expands social scientists’ understanding of race, ethnicity, and Jewish identities.